Our team

Rae Ostrander has 20 plus years of experience in the real estate investment industry focusing on yield-centered strategies by turning around real estate assets and optimizing cash production in traditionally undervalued markets. In previous Limited Partnerships, his strategic and tactical abilities in acquisition, operations, and fiscal management have produced 15-25% average annual returns for investors.

Contrast REIT was founded with the same proven strategic approach, used in previous Limited Partnerships but now in an investment structure open to Registered funds, providing greater liquidity, diversification, and stable, monthly distributions.

Prior to the formation of Contrast REIT, Rae Ostrander Group acquired small multi-family assets in the early 2000s, and over the next twenty years managed thousands of units in the residential and mixed residential commercial space. As a result of Rae’s strategic and tactical abilities in acquisition, operations, fiscal management, sales, and new product markets – he was recruited as a speaker and consultant to individuals and management teams seeking to expand their real estate holdings and diversified their portfolios. Rae also formed and managed a number of limited partnerships, acquiring multi-family residential properties and successfully exiting them. Over Rae’s twenty years of experience in the real estate industry, he has focused on yield-centered strategies by turning around undervalued real estate assets and optimizing the cash production in traditionally undervalued markets.

Past Projects

2012 – Brimar Apartments (Windsor, Ontario)

2016 – 186 Queen (Sarnia, Ontario)

2016 – 892 Wellington (Sarnia, Ontario)

2016 – 951 Colborne (Sarnia, Ontario)

2016 – 126 East (Sarnia, Ontario)

2018 – Lakeshore Dunes Apartments (Gary, Indiana)

Green Thumb REIT

In 2020 Rae decide to adopt an investment structure of a REIT to purchase, manage and sell multi-family residential properties in the US. Shortly thereafter Green Thumb REIT was launched.

Contrast REIT

Due to current economic conditions and market opportunities, a new REIT was formed in June of 2023, Contrast REIT.

Stephen Clarke is an executive leader with more than 30 years of experience in marketing and sales within the wealth management and financial services sectors. He has significant operational experience in different regulatory environments, including the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), and Private Capital Markets (Issuers and Exempt Market Dealers).

Stephen has worked in the product and services (asset manager, issuer) and distribution (brokerage, agency) businesses of the wealth management industry in Canada and the United States. His experience in real estate include land banking, land development, real estate development, mortgage investing and now with Contrast Asset Management Inc., real estate investment trusts (REITs). Stephen has a unique ability to structure and promote a wide range of innovative products and services through multiple channels to diverse audiences. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from McMaster University.

Paul Ostrander is a Professional Engineer with an MBA in Finance and Marketing. He served with the Rae Ostrander Group as a project manager on mid-rise development projects and later as an interim property manager. For the past five years, Paul has held the position of Controller while also serving as a Board Advisor to the Rae Ostrander Group, elevating its growth with Canadian and U.S. limited partnership investments. His involvement in manufacturing turnarounds for Monsanto, Continental Can, and Domtar allowed him to transition into selling high-tech manufacturing solutions for firms from Korea to Moscow. Paul was accountable for the corporate rehabilitation of European manufacturing operations, rescuing failing corporate acquisitions for these high-tech businesses. Venture capitalists then attained him to turn around Becket Technologies.

He successfully raised $16M of funds to develop and scale their business and took it public. As their Chief Operating Officer, Paul was able to grow the organization, laying the foundation for the sale of the company. Beckett Technologies was ultimately bought by James River Corp. Paul has focused the last ten years of his career on selling analytics to the top ten banks in the U.S., as well as selling Enterprise Resource Planning solutions from Oracle to the governments of Ontario and Quebec. He is an avid volunteer, giving back to the community, and has spent 25 years working with the Toronto Bail Program and with Celebrate Recovery at the Salvation Army, helping people overcome personal challenges and develop into productive members of society.

Janet Rodrigues joined the team in 2022 with over 15 years of demonstrated proven management strengths in Compliance, Supervision, AML, Risk Management, and Audit in the securities industry including, Brokerage, Scholarship Plan Dealer, and Investment industries in Canada and internationally. Janet oversees all operations-related functions within the Manager.  She is managing the Manager’s internal administrative processes, marketing, and communications materials, and ongoing client services, ensuring that the Manager meets the applicable Canadian and provincial regulations.  She plays a key role in supporting operational and functional areas in the review and development of policies and procedures and in building strong client relationships.

Rameez Khan is a seasoned CPA and ACCA Member with over ten years of experience in both North American and Middle Eastern markets. His career spans various sectors, including Public Accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers, transaction advisory services, and merger and acquisition transactions. Rameez’s expertise includes ERP Implementations (SAP FICO & Oracle), financial analysis, modeling, valuations, and the preparation of consolidated Financial Statements according to GAAP & IFRS standards.

As the head of the Finance department, Rameez manages two direct reports. He oversees all property onboarding processes from due diligence, lease audits, rent rolls, to GL Mapping. Rameez also handles fund and investor accounting for distributions, contributions, Redemptions, and NAV Calculations.

In preparing our Annual Budget and Financial Forecasts, reporting variances, and cash flow forecasting to manage and monitor both inflows and outflows, Rameez ensures that we meet our financial compliance for external reporting requirements such as SEC, OSC, TSX, etc. Additionally, Rameez is responsible for ensuring REIT compliance, managing our banking relationships, and liaising with regulators.